Das Regelwerk — the work of rules. A German compound naming the whole structure of rules governing a field as a single object, used in engineering, sport, finance and administration. The rules are understood as a system rather than as a collection.
The ordinance
German regulation is issued as a Verordnung derived from an enabling statute, which is itself derived from constitutional competence. Every rule can be traced upward to the provision that authorised it. The chain of derivation is formal and checkable.
Subsumption
German legal method teaches a formal syllogism, called Subsumtion: state the rule, establish the facts, apply the one to the other. Law students are drilled in it, and examination answers are marked on whether the structure was followed. Deduction is taught as a procedure with a name.
Codified law
German law is codified. The Civil Code of 1900 set out general principles from which particular cases are decided, and a German judgment reasons downward from the statute to the facts. The rule exists first, in writing, and the case is measured against it.
The standard
A German standard is written before the work, by a committee, from first principles and agreed requirements — and then applied. DIN maintains tens of thousands of them. The standard is not a record of what has been found to work. It is a specification of what shall be done, issued in advance.
Definition of processes
Ein Prozess ist ein Satz von in Wechselbeziehung oder Wechselwirkung stehenden Tätigkeiten, der Eingaben in Ergebnisse umwandelt. A process is a set of activities which are interrelated, interdependent, influence each other mutually, and turn inputs into results.
The Bavarian Ministry for Commerce defines a process as: „The sequence of all activities which are linked with each other and convert inputs – based on customer requirements, legal boundary conditions, market demands – into a desired outcome.“
Simply put, a process is a set of work steps, which are sequenced logically, that have a beginning and lead to a specific desired outcome.
All theory is gray
To deduce is to infer certain consequences from general premises (assumptions, propositions). Infer means to form an opinion, to reach a conclusion based on facts. Stated simply, to apply the general to the specific. This is a central part of how Germans think.
Deductive thinking is in German commercial law. What work processes should look like are very specifically defined. They should, for example, be based on German laws governing safety, but be shaped by overall knowledge of the respective company.
Work process, therefore, are based both on theory (safety laws) and on practice (knowhow developed over years).
The renowned German dual vocational training is based on this logic. The students in vocational schools learn at the same time theory and practice (or application). The so-called gray theory – classroom learning – is a requirement.
Deviation from process goal
In 2011 PwC presented the results of its study Zukunftsthema Prozessmanagement – literally Future Topic Process Management, which surveyed its current state in German companies.
95% of executive management in Germany agreed that business process management was either important or very important to their success. Process management has become a critical function at the corporate level.
At the same time only 5% of those surveyed said that their process management was well developed. 46% of the companies did not have a clear plan on how to react to process deviation. Only 12% claimed to have an established mechanism for handling deviation from the most critical internal business processes.
While the study documents how much room for improvement there is in the area of process management governance, it was equally clear how flexibly German companies react to process deviation. Which, in turn, contradicts the cliché that Germans have a process for everything and always stick to the process.
Der Weg ist das Ziel
Der Weg ist das Ziel. The path is the goal. Eastern thinking. Not Western. However, a figure of speech many Germans use, and an entry point into how they understand the importance of process, of how the work is done.
Prozesse. Processes. Garantie. Guaranty. Kein Werkzeug. Not a tool. Germans would say that a final product is only as good as the process which led to it. Process. how the work is done. And a process is only as good as the product it produces. Zwei Seiten einer Medaille. Two sides of the same coin. Processes. Not a tool.
If you work with Germans, you’ll know how intense and constant their focus is on how the work should be done. You’ll experience discussion after discussion, meeting after meeting, debate after debate. It can appear as if they are obsessed with process. All this at the expense of the user, of the internal or external customer. It can appear to threaten the very purpose, and success, of the activity.
But wait. When Germans engage about how the work is done, they are, in fact, talking about the customer, about how best to serve the customer. Two sides of the same coin. If you get the process right, you get the end product right. For the customer. In the German context, talking process is talking customer. The Germans may not use the term customer, or the term serve, or value. But this doesn’t mean that they are not focused on it.
For Germans true focus on the customer is focus on how to do the work right, correctly. The path is not the goal. In the West, the goal is the goal. The path gets you there. Chart that path carefully. Walk that path the right way. “The right way”, lots of room for discussion there.
DIN
The German Institute for Norms (Deutsches Institut für Normung – DIN) sets voluntary standards for material and immaterial things.
DIN norms are suggested typically by German industry. They are set only when all parties to the discussion are in agreement. DIN norms are to Germany what ISO and EN norms are to international and European industry respectively.
The first DIN norm was set in March of 1918. By 1927 the Germans had settled on more than 3,000 norms. In 1948 the number reached 8,200. As of 2012 there are over 33,000 DIN norms, most of which are in the areas of mechanical engineering, construction, air and space, information technology, environmental protection, optics and professional services.
Each year produces roughly 2,000 new DIN norms. Each and every norm is reviewed every five years as to whether it is necessary and or meets current standards. The DIN system has begun the process of integrating itself with European and international standardization systems.